“The heroic books, even if printed in the character of our mother tongue, will always be in a language dead to degenerate times; and we must laboriously seek the meaning of each word and line, conjecturing a larger sense than common use permits out of what wisdom and valor and generosity we have.” -- Henry David Thoreau

About Me

Editor for publishing company by day; skald in the Hall of Fire by night; and member of the S.H.I.E.L.D.W.A.L.L.
Essayist and reviewer for numerous web and print-based fantasy publications, including The Cimmerian, Black Gate, Mythprint, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur, The Dark Man, and SFFaudio.com.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Fantasy subgenres: Helpful or needlessly divisive?

Sword and sorcery? Epic fantasy? Sword and planet? Sword and sandal? Does anyone really care about these delineations? Do they serve any purpose?

A couple of the blogs I frequent, Charles Gramlich’s Razored Zen and James Raggi’s Lamentations of the Flame Princess, have in recent days argued both sides of the debate. LOFP sneered that no one really cares about the issue and that all such divisions are meaningless; RZ’s opinion is clearly apparent in the fact that he’s written the first two parts of a detailed three-part series on heroic fantasy and its subdivisions.

12 comments:

I don't really care about the delineations, though they are fun to think about. But I enjoyed running into Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser whilst reading about them. I do believe I've got this picture lurking on a book somewhere in my library.

it's a good topic, I'm glad you wrote about it, as its something I frequently wonder about.. especially when talking to people who have different tastes in books than I do.

Simply because something is in the " SF&F " Section at the book store dosen't mean I'm going to like it or want to read it. So to me they are useful in picking out other books I may like.

I'm pretty strictly a fan of the Heroic Fantasy (Sword and Sorcery/Planet/Sandal) and Epic Fantasy sub-genres.. I don't really care for Urban Fantasy or whatever else the new stuff is they are putting out.. and I certainly don't care for the new post modern fantasy by the likes of Morgan and Meivelle.. I'd rather read the entire Dragonlance series than just one book from either of them..

The reader knows that Fafhrd is larger in stature, but is anyone *really* imaging one man's head bring twice the size of the other's? Viggo Mortensen and Elijiah Wood looked more reasonable in their Lord of the Rings scenes together.

Will and Will: But what about my thought-provoking post? Are you really just interested in the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser pic? This seems to confirm my sneaking suspicion that no one really gives a fig.

David: I knew I could count on you, man!

Lagomorph: The only Mieville I've read is Perdido Street Station and it earned a solid "meh" from me. Morgan (of The Steel Remains seems more intent on being a contrarian than writing compelling fantasy.

I nearly spit out my coffee when I read that one. Great essay, Brian. I happen to like pretty much all the 'genres.' I also agree that categories can be fun, and that any problems are for writers/editors rather than fans and readers. However, even those problems are easily conquered by writing/finding quality work.

That's what my friends and I usually argue about - quality - rather than genre. Of course, that sort of discussion can often be fruitless, as well! Or, like discussion of genre, it can lead to greater understanding of our own appreciations, a more critical eye for detail, and a broader view of the world of literature.

There are a few too many sub-sub-subgenres around, but overall I'm glad for those larger drawers. For example, I love epic Fantasy, historical Fantasy, Sword&Sorcery, but I don't care about Urban Fantasy or Dystopian/Apocalypse stuff, and for that the subgenre definitions are helpful.

Of course, I only read books I like (to avoid the taste charged 'good books') within the genres I enjoy, but I can't get into books from subgenres I don't like no matter how critically acclaimed and/or popular they are (Dresden Files, or Mieville, fe.).

But I won't blame any writer for putting boots into a Sword&Sandal story ;) , some genre bending can lead to interesting books.

Hi Charles, I agree. I like having the categories as I find them useful and fun, but I don't worry about them too much (well, maybe except when someone calls Tolkien sword and sorcery). I enjoy just about all the subgenres, too.

"Wonder had gone away, and he had forgotten that all life is only a set of pictures in the brain, among which there is no difference betwixt those born of real things and those born of inward dreamings, and no cause to value the one above the other."